All Filipino peacekeepers in Golan Heights now safe

More than 70 UN peacekeepers have managed to escape after Golan Heights came
under attack from Syrian rebels

AP

2:43AM BST 31 Aug 2014

The Philippine military chief has said more than 70 Filipino peacekeepers have escaped from two areas in the Golan Heights that came under attack by Syrian rebels.

The UN troops performed the "greatest escape" after being besieged by the Islamist militants, military chiefs said today.

All 75 soldiers serving with a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Middle East flashpoint zone reached safety after the rebels, some linked to Al-Qaeda, surrounded them and demanded their weapons on Thursday, military chief General Gregorio Catapang said.

Catapang called it "the greatest escape" and praised the soldiers.

"Although they were surrounded and outnumbered they held their ground," he told reporters.

However the fate of 44 UN peacekeepers from Fiji remained unknown. The Fijians were taken captive by rebels just before the Filipinos were besieged.

The troops are part of a UN peacekeeping force which has been stationed in the Golan Heights since 1974 to monitor a ceasefire between Israel and Syria.

"Everyone is in a safe position. We left our (old) position but we brought all our arms," said Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala.

President Benigno Aquino's spokesman Herminio Coloma issued a statement thanking the UN force as well as Syria, Israel, Qatar and the United States for their assistance in the crisis.

Smoke rises near a Syrian flag hoisted up a flagpole as a result of the fighting between Syrian rebels and Syrian Army over the control of Quneitra crossing

"It is in our nation's interest to give priority to (the soldiers') safety but we will not turn our backs on our commitment to global security particularly in the Golan Heights and the Middle East," Coloma said.

He did not elaborate on the help provided by the other countries although the head of peacekeeping operations, Colonel Roberto Ancan said separately that the Syrians had provided "indirect fire support" that took the pressure off the besieged Filipinos.

An initial group of 35 Filipino troops were picked up from their position by Irish UN soldiers in armoured vehicles on Saturday after Syrian rebels attacked their comrades positioned about four kilometres (two-and-a-half miles) away, said the Philippine military.

The remaining 40 soldiers engaged in a "seven-hour firefight" with rebels who tried to ram the gates with pick-up trucks carrying anti-aircraft guns.

The soldiers, who were armed only with machine-guns and rifles, held off the rebels who even used a mortar to shell their positions, Ancan said.

The troops later walked to safety to a UN position just over two kilometres away.

In a statement, the UN said the 40 Filipino peacekeepers withdrew shortly after midnight "during a ceasefire agreed with the armed elements".

They later moved to Camp Ziouani behind UN lines. "There is no more standoff. All are safe," Zagala told AFP.